Eight Attorney Generals Join On-Call Scheduling Investigation

Many retail workers have complained that they were forced to show up for call-in shifts, with some reports indicating that these on-call scheduling shifts are often canceled without pay.

On-call scheduling practices have come under scrutiny in at least eight states, with New York’s Attorney General sending letters to 15 retailers requesting information on their call-in shifts when scheduling employees.

Similar letters were sent in April 2015 from the New York Attorney General, with the difference being the participation of Attorney Generals from eight other states.

Joining the New York AG, these additional Attorney Generals include California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Rhode Island, who all signed the 2016 letters.

The AGs indicated they are committed to also investigating the same retailers’ on-call scheduling practices in their respective jurisdictions.

Overview of On-Call Scheduling Practices

On-call scheduling is a practice many retailers implement in which employees’ work hours are meant to be closely tied with consumer demand.

Employees are required to contact employers on the day of a shift to determine if they are needed, making the call-in shifts essentially last minute. In addition, employees working during call-in shifts may be required to leave work before completing their scheduled shift.

The letters from the Attorneys General were spurred from an increasing awareness of the stress on-call scheduling places on employees, especially concerning the unpredictability and inconvenience call-in shifts place on the employees’ lives.

According to a 2014 report from the University of Chicago, researchers found that 41% of employees ages 26 to 32 receive their work schedules in a week or less in advance. Highlighting this concern in their letters, the Attorneys Generals state the “unpredictable work schedules take a toll on employees.”

The AGs further stated that “Without the security of a definite work schedule, workers who must be ‘on call’ have difficulty making reliable childcare and elder-care arrangements, and encounter obstacles in pursuing an education.”

The letters cite New York wage and hour law, 12 NYCRR 142-2.3, which is a reporting pay law requiring that “an employee who by request or permission of the employer reports for work on any day shall be paid for at least four hours or the number of hours in the regularly scheduled shift, whichever is less, at the basic hourly wage.”

Even though some states like Maryland or Illinois do not currently have reporting pay laws, these Attorneys Generals still signed the letters over the concern of the impact on-call scheduling has on families.

Furthermore on-call scheduling does not allow the employees to supplement their income with additional jobs, due to the unpredictability of their work schedule. The Attorneys Generals called for conversion of scheduling methods that may be more conducive to their business practices, suggesting that on-call scheduling is not necessary.

It should be noted that in result of a similar inquiry sent by the New York Attorney General in 2015, brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Gap agreed to end on-call scheduling.